📖 Meaning
Describes something so numerous or abundant that it cannot be fully recorded or listed one by one. It is used to emphasize an overwhelming quantity of deeds, people, or events, suggesting that any attempt to enumerate them would be futile.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom comes from the memorial '为宋公求加赠刘前军表' (Memorial on Behalf of Duke Song Requesting Additional Posthumous Honors for the Vanguard General) written by Fu Liang (傅亮) of the Southern Dynasties Liu Song period. Fu Liang, a court official and noted writer, composed this petition on behalf of Liu Yu (刘裕), then Duke of Song and later founding emperor of the Liu Song dynasty, requesting greater posthumous honors for the vanguard general Liu Muzhi (刘穆之). Praising Liu Muzhi's contributions, Fu Liang wrote '功隐于视听，不可胜记' — meaning his merits, though not always visible to the eye or ear, were so great that they could not all be recorded. This line gave rise to the idiom, which has since been used to describe anything too plentiful to enumerate.
💡 Example Usage
他为公司做出的贡献不可胜记。
The contributions he made to the company are too numerous to be fully recorded.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 不可胜记
- Pinyin: bù kě shèng jì
- Literal Translation: not, able to, exhaustively, record
- Category: Variety
- Characters: 4